Two years after Maryland voted to approve sports gambling, the legalization process concluded and gamblers rushed to casinos and downloaded popular apps to partake in this frenzy. Maryland mandates you must be 18 years old to place bets, so staff and many seniors are able to put money on their favorite teams. However, some choose not to.

Students have already started placing their bets through sportsbooks. “I bet on everything: football, soccer, UFC, boxing, basketball,” senior Young Cho said. Although he did not disclose his profits or deficits, he said that he has “won a ton of money in the past few weeks.”

Some students, on the other hand, are more careful with how they gamble their money. “I think it is very exciting that betting got legalized in Maryland, but I have to make sure to make careful decisions about where I put my money,” senior Kaitlin Mariani said. “Gambling is a slippery slope and I don’t want to tumble.”

Others who aren’t yet 18 and therefore can’t place bets indulge in sports gambling by helping their friends who can bet. “I personally don’t plan on betting but I do enjoy helping other people with their bets,” sophomore Noah Friedman said. However, “When I turn 18, I can see myself betting small amounts of money like $5 a week” Friedman said.

Friedman has a unique perspective on how the state of Maryland can benefit from the legalization of sports betting. “I think it’s good for the economy. The more money going into sports bets the more the economy is being stimulated.” Friedman said.

Although he is correct that there will be a new market in Maryland, it may not drastically change the Maryland economy, however, it has already affected the advertisements at the University of Maryland basketball games.

PointsBet, a popular betting platform, has named themselves official partners of University of Maryland Athletics and are displaying their advertisements during basketball games according to PR Newswire. “They [the betting apps] seem to be targeting college students which is one of the worst groups to target with something like [sports betting]” because “it will get a lot of people in trouble,” Physics & AP Seminar teacher Michael Thomspon said.

Many see the flaws of legalizing sports betting. “I don’t think legalizing sports betting was a good move. I think betting is highly addictive and the people who it’s targeting don’t realize how addictive it is” Thompson said. “I do not think [I will gamble my own money] because there are better ways for me to spend my money and enjoy sports.”

Although it is exciting that sports betting recently got legalized in Maryland and that some of the students will be able to gamble their money, most staff see the risk in betting while many of the students are fairly ready to dive right into the sportsbook.